International Energy Annual 2005
Report Released: June-October 2007A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H - I - J - K - L - M - N - O - P - Q - R - S - T - U - V - W - XYZ
Acid Rain: Also called acid precipitation or acid deposition, acid rain is precipitation containing harmful amounts of nitric and sulfuric acids formed primarily by sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides released into the atmosphere when fossil fuels are burned. It can be wet precipitation (rain, snow, or fog) or dry precipitation (absorbed gaseous and particulate matter, aerosol particles or dust). Acid rain has a pH below 5.6. Normal rain has a pH of about 5.6, which is slightly acidic. The term pH is a measure of acidity or alkalinity and ranges from 0 to 14. A pH measurement of 7 is regarded as neutral. Measurements below 7 indicate increased acidity, while those above indicate increased alkalinity.
Acquisition (Foreign Crude Oil): All transfers of ownership of foreign crude oil to a firm, irrespective of the terms of that transfer. Acquisitions thus include all purchases and exchange receipts as well as any and all foreign crude acquired under reciprocal buy-sell agreements or acquired as a result of a buy-back or other preferential agreement with a host government.
Afforestation: Planting of new forests on lands that have not been recently forested.
Agglomerating Character: Agglomeration describes the caking properties of coal. Agglomerating character is determined by examination and testing of the residue when a small powdered sample is heated to 950 degrees Centigrade under specified conditions. If the sample is “agglomerating,” the residue will be coherent, show swelling or cell structure, and be capable of supporting a 500-gram weight without pulverizing.
Alcohol: The family name of a group of organic chemical compounds composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. The series of molecules vary in chain length and are composed of a hydrocarbon plus a hydroxyl group, CH3-(CH2)n-OH. Included are methanol, ethanol, and tertiary butyl alcohol.
Alternating Current: An electric current that reverses its direction at regularly recurring intervals, usually 50 or 60 times per second.
Ampere: The unit of measurement of electrical current produced in a circuit of 1 volt acting through a resistance of 1 ohm.
Anaerobic Decomposition: The breakdown of molecules into simpler molecules or atoms by microorganisms that can survive in the partial or complete absence of oxygen.
Anthracite: The highest rank of coal; used primarily for residential and commercial space heating. It is a hard, brittle, and black lustrous coal, often referred to as hard coal, containing a high percentage of fixed carbon and a low percentage of volatile matter. The moisture content of fresh-mined anthracite generally is less than 15 percent. The heat content of anthracite ranges from 22 to 28 million Btu per ton on a moist, mineral-matter-free basis. The heat content of anthracite coal consumed in the United States averages 25 million Btu per ton, on the as-received basis (i.e., containing both inherent moisture and mineral matter). Note: Since the 1980's, anthracite refuse or mine waste has been used for steam electric power generation. This fuel typically has a heat content of 15 million Btu per ton or less.
Anthracite Briquets: See Coal Briquets.
Anthropogenic: Made or generated by a human or caused by human activity. The term is used in the context of global climate change to refer to gaseous emissions that are the result of human activities, as well as other potentially climate-altering activities, such as deforestation.
API: The American Petroleum Institute, a trade association.
API Gravity: An arbitrary scale expressing the gravity or density of liquid petroleum products, as established by the American Petroleum Institute (API). The measuring scale is calibrated in terms of degrees API. The higher the API gravity, the lighter the compound. Light crude oils generally exceed 38 degrees API and heavy crude oils are commonly labeled as all crude oils with an API gravity of 22 degrees or below. Intermediate crude oils fall in the range of 22 degrees to 38 degrees API gravity.
Apparent Consumption (Coal): As used here, a calculated amount equal to primary coal production plus imports of coal and coke, minus exports of coal and coke minus changes in stocks of coal and coke. Notes: 1) For the United States, coal consumption data are reported by major end-use sector and do not have to be calculated; 2) A net withdrawal from stocks increases consumption and a net addition to stocks decreases consumption.
Apparent Consumption (Natural Gas): As used here, a calculated amount equal to dry natural gas production, plus imports of natural gas, minus exports of natural gas, minus changes in natural gas stocks. Note: A net withdrawal from stocks increases consumption and a net addition to stocks decreases consumption.
Apparent Consumption of Refined Petroleum Products: See Apparent Consumption (Petroleum).
Apparent Consumption (Petroleum): As used here, a calculated amount that includes domestic inland consumption, refinery fuel and loss, and international bunker fuels. Also included, where available, are liquefied petroleum gases sold directly from natural gas processing plants for fuel or chemical uses.
Ash: Impurities consisting of silica, iron, alumina, and other incombustible matter that are contained in coal. Ash increases the weight of coal, adds to the cost of handling, and can affect the burning characteristics. Ash content is measured as a percent by weight of coal on an as-received basis (i.e., containing both inherent moisture and mineral matter) or a dry (moisture-free) basis.
Asphalt: A dark brown-to-black cement-like material obtained by petroleum processing and containing bitumens as the predominant component; used primarily for road construction. It includes crude asphalt as well as the following finished products: cements, fluxes, the asphalt content of emulsions (exclusive of water), and petroleum distillates blended with asphalt to make cutback asphalts. Note: The conversion factor for asphalt is 5.5 barrels per short ton.
Asphalt (Refined): See Asphalt.
Associated-Dissolved Natural Gas: Natural gas that occurs in crude oil reservoirs either as free gas (associated) or as a gas in solution with crude oil (dissolved gas). See Natural Gas.
Associated Gas: See Associated-Dissolved Natural Gas and Natural Gas.
Associated Natural Gas: See Associated-Dissolved Natural Gas and Natural Gas.
ASTM: The American Society for Testing and Materials, a trade association.
Atmospheric Crude Oil Distillation Unit: See Distillation Unit (Atmospheric).
Aviation Gasoline Blending Components: Naphthas that are used for blending or compounding gasoline into finished aviation gasoline (e.g., straight-run gasoline, alkylate, and reformate). Excluded are oxygenates (alcohols, ethers), butane, and pentanes plus.
Aviation Gasoline (Finished): A complex mixture of relatively volatile hydrocarbons with or without small quantities of additives, blended to form a fuel suitable for use in aviation reciprocating engines. Fuel specifications are provided in ASTM Specification D 910 and Military Specification MIL-G-5572. Note: Data on blending components are not counted in data on finished aviation gasoline. See Jet Fuel; Kerosene-Type Jet Fuel; and Naphtha-Type Jet Fuel.
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Barrel: A unit of volume equal to 42 U.S. gallons. Also see: Barrels.
Barrels per Calendar Day: The amount of input that a distillation facility can process under usual operating conditions. The amount is expressed in terms of capacity during a 24-hour period and reduces the maximum processing capability of all units at the facility under continuous operation (see Barrels per Stream Day) to account for the following limitations that may delay, interrupt, or slow down production:
Barrels per Stream Day: The maximum number of barrels of input that a distillation facility can process within a 24-hour period when running at full capacity under optimal crude and product slate conditions with no allowance for downtime.
Biodiesel: A renewable fuel synthesized from soybeans, other oil crops, or animal tallow that can substitute for petroleum diesel fuel.
Biofuels: Liquid fuels and blending components produced from biomass (plant) feedstocks, used primarily for transportation.
Biogas: A medium Btu gas containing methane and carbon dioxide, produced from the anaerobic decomposition of organic material in a landfill. Also called biomass gas.
Biogenic: Produced by the actions of living organisms.
Biomass: Nonfossil material of biological origin constituting a renewable energy resource. Included in Wood and Waste.
Biomass Gas: See Biogas.
Biosphere: The portion of the Earth and its atmosphere that can support life. The part of the global carbon cycle that includes living organisms and biogenic organic matter.
Bitumen: A naturally occurring viscous mixture, mainly of hydrocarbons heavier than pentane, that may contain sulfur compounds and that, in its natural occurring viscous state, is not recoverable at a commercial rate through a well.
Bituminous Briquets: See: Coal Briquets.
Bituminous Coal: A dense coal, usually black, sometimes dark brown, often with well-defined bands of bright and dull material, used primarily as fuel in steam-electric power generation, with substantial quantities also used for heat and power applications in manufacturing and to make coke. Bituminous coal is the most abundant coal in active U.S. mining regions. Its moisture content usually is less than 20 percent. The heat content of bituminous coal ranges from 21 to 30 million Btu per ton on a moist, mineral-matter-free basis. The heat content of bituminous coal consumed in the United States averages 24 million Btu per ton, on the as-received basis (i.e., containing both inherent moisture and mineral matter).
Black Liquor: A byproduct of the paper production process that can be used as a source of energy.
Boiler: A device for generating steam for power, processing, or heating purposes; or for producing hot water for heating purposes or hot water supply. Heat from an external combustion source is transmitted to a fluid contained within the tubes in the boiler shell. This fluid is delivered to an end-use at a desired pressure, temperature, and quality.
Briquetting Plant: A facility where coal is converted into coal briquets. See Coal Briquets.
British Thermal Unit (Btu): See Btu (British Thermal Unit) (below).
Btu (British Thermal Unit): A standard unit for measuring the quantity of heat energy equal to the quantity of heat needed to raise the temperature of 1 pound of water by 1 degree Fahrenheit at or near 39.2 degrees Fahrenheit. The Btu is a convenient measure by which to compare the energy content of various fuels. See Conversion Factors and Heat Contents, Units, Heat Content of a Quantity of Fuel, Gross, and Heat Content of a Quantity of Fuel, Net.
Bunker Fuels: Fuel supplied to ships and aircraft, both domestic and foreign, consisting primarily of residual and distillate fuel oil for ships and kerosene-type jet fuel for aircraft. The term "international bunker fuels" is used to denote the consumption of fuel for international transport activities. Notes: 1) For the purposes of greenhouse gas emissions inventories, data on emissions from combustion of international bunker fuels are subtracted from national emissions totals. However, because it was often difficult to separate out international bunker fuels, this adjustment was not made in estimating the carbon dioxide emissions that appear here. 2) Historically, bunker fuels have meant only ship fuel. See Vessel Bunkering.
Bunkers: See Bunker Fuels.
Butane: A normally gaseous straight-chain or branched-chain hydrocarbon, (C4H10). It is extracted from natural gas or refinery gas streams. It includes isobutane and normal butane and conforms to ASTM Specification D 1835 and Gas Processors Association Specifications for commercial butane.
Butylene: An olefinic hydrocarbon (C4H8) recovered from refinery processes.
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Carbon Budget: The balance of the exchanges (incomes) and losses) of carbon between carbon sinks (e.g., atmosphere and biosphere) in the carbon cycle. See Carbon Cycle and Carbon Sink.
Carbon Cycle: All carbon sinks and exchanges of carbon from one sink to another by various chemical, physical, geological, and biological processes. See Carbon Sink and Carbon Budget.
Carbon Dioxide (CO2): A colorless, odorless, non-poisonous gas that is a normal part of Earth's atmosphere. Carbon dioxide is a product of fossil-fuel combustion as well as other processes. It is considered a greenhouse gas as it traps heat (infrared energy) radiated by the Earth into the atmosphere and thereby contributes to the potential for global warming. The global warming potential (GWP) of other greenhouse gases is measured in relation to that of carbon dioxide, which by international scientific convention is assigned a value of one (1). See Global Warming Potential (GWP) and Greenhouse Gases.
Carbon Dioxide Equivalent: The amount of carbon dioxide by weight emitted into the atmosphere that would produce the same estimated radiative forcing as a given weight of another radiatively active gas. Carbon dioxide equivalents are computed by multiplying the weight of the gas being measured (for example, methane) by its estimated global warming potential (which is 21 for methane). "Carbon equivalent units" are defined as carbon dioxide equivalents multiplied by the carbon content of carbon dioxide (i.e., 12/44).
Carbon Intensity: The amount of carbon by weight emitted per unit of energy consumed. A common measure of carbon intensity is weight of carbon per British thermal unit (Btu) of energy. When there is only one fossil fuel under consideration, the carbon intensity and the emissions coefficient are identical. When there are several fuels, carbon intensity is based on their combined emissions coefficients weighted by their energy consumption levels. See Emissions Coefficient and Carbon Output Rate.
Carbon Output Rate: The amount of carbon by weight per kilowatthour of electricity produced.
Carbon Sequestration: The fixation of atmospheric carbon dioxide in a carbon sink through biological or physical processes.
Carbon Sink: A reservoir that absorbs or takes up released carbon from another part of the carbon cycle. The four sinks, which are regions of the Earth within which carbon behaves in a systematic manner, are the atmosphere, terrestrial biosphere (usually including freshwater systems), oceans, and sediments (including fossil fuels). See Carbon Cycle and Carbon Budget.
Catalytic Cracking: The refining process of breaking down the larger, heavier, and more complex hydrocarbon molecules into simpler and lighter molecules. Catalytic cracking is accomplished by the use of a catalytic agent and is an effective process for increasing the yield of gasoline from crude oil. Catalytic cracking processes fresh feeds and recycled feeds.
Catalytic Reforming: A refining process using controlled heat and pressure with catalysts to rearrange certain hydrocarbon molecules, thereby converting paraffinic and naphthenic type hydrocarbons (e.g., low-octane gasoline boiling range fractions) into petrochemical feedstocks and higher octane stocks suitable for blending into finished gasoline.
C.I.F.(Cost, Insurance and Freight): A sales transaction in which the seller pays for the transportation and insurance of the goods up to the port of destination specified by the buyer.
Circuit: A conductor or a system of conductors through which electric current flows.
Climate: The average course or condition of the weather over a period of years as exhibited by temperature, humidity, wind velocity, and precipitation.
Climate Change: A term used to refer to all forms of climatic inconsistency, but especially to significant change from one prevailing climatic condition to another. In some cases, "climate change" has been used synonymously with the term "global warming"; scientists, however, tend to use the term in a wider sense inclusive of natural changes in climate, including climatic cooling. See Greenhouse Gases.
Coal: A readily combustible black or brownish-black rock whose composition, including inherent moisture, consists of more than 50 percent by weight and more than 70 percent by volume of carbonaceous material. It is formed from plant remains that have been compacted, hardened, chemically altered, and metamorphosed by heat and pressure over geologic time. See Coal Rank.
Coalbed: A bed or stratum of coal. Also called a coal seam.
Coalbed Methane: Methane produced from coalbeds in the same way that natural gas is produced from other strata. See Methane.
Coal Briquets: Anthracite, bituminous, and lignite briquets are secondary solid fuels manufactured from coal by a process in which the coal is partly dried, warmed to expel excess moisture, and then compressed into briquets, usually without the use of a binding substance.
Coal Coke: See Coke (Coal).
Coal Production: The sum of sales, mine consumption, issues to miners, and issues to coke, briquetting, and other ancillary plants at mines. Production data include quantities extracted from surface and underground mines, and normally exclude wastes removed at mines or associated preparation plants.
Coal Rank: The classification of coals according to their degree of progressive alteration from lignite to anthracite. In the United States, the standard ranks of coal include lignite, subbituminous coal, bituminous coal, and anthracite and are based on fixed carbon, volatile matter, heating value, and agglomerating (or caking) properties.
Coal Stocks: Coal quantities that are held in storage for future use and disposition. Note: When coal data are collected for a particular reporting period (month, quarter, or year), coal stocks are commonly measured as of the last day of this period.
Cogeneration: The production of electrical energy and another form of useful energy (such as heat or steam) through the sequential use of energy.
Cogenerator: A generating facility that produces electricity and another form of useful thermal energy (such as heat or steam) used for industrial, commercial, heating, or cooling purposes. See Electric Utility and Nonutility Power Producer.
Coke (Coal): A solid carbonaceous residue derived from low-ash, low-sulfur bituminous coal from which the volatile constituents are driven off by baking in an oven at temperatures as high as 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit so that the fixed carbon and residual ash are fused together. Coke is used as a fuel and as a reducing agent in smelting iron ore in a blast furnace. Coke from coal is grey, hard, and porous and has a heating value of 24.8 million Btu per ton.
Coke Oven Gas: The gaseous portion of volatile substances driven off in the coking process after other coal chemicals are removed.
Coke (Petroleum): A residue high in carbon content and low in hydrogen that is the final product of thermal decomposition in the condensation process in cracking. This product is reported as marketable coke or catalyst coke. The conversion is 5 barrels (of 42 U.S. gallons each) per short ton. Coke from petroleum has a heating value of 6.024 million Btu per barrel.
Coke Plant: A plant where coal is carbonized in slot or beehive ovens for the manufacture of coke.
Coking Coal: Bituminous coal suitable for making coke. See Coke (Coal).
Combined Cycle: An electric generating technology in which electricity is produced from otherwise lost waste heat exiting from one or more gas (combustion) turbines. The exiting heat is routed to a conventional boiler or to a heat recovery steam generator for utilization by a steam turbine in the production of electricity. Such designs increase the efficiency of the electric generating unit.
Combined Cycle Unit: An electric generating unit that consists of one or more combustion turbines and one or more boilers with a portion of the required energy input to the boiler(s) provided by the exhaust gas of the combustion turbine(s).
Combined Pumped-Storage Electric Power Plant: A pumped-storage hydroelectric power plant that uses both pumped water and natural stream flow to produce electricity. See Pumped-Storage Hydroelectric Power Plant and Pure Pumped-Storage Hydroelectric Power Plant.
Combustible Renewables and Waste: Combustible renewables and waste is a term used by the International Energy Agency. It comprises solid biomass, liquid biomass, biogas, industrial waste and municipal waste. It is similar to the category Wood and Waste as used by the Energy Information Administration.
Combustion: Chemical oxidation accompanied by the generation of light and heat.
Completion: Installation of permanent equipment for the production of oil or gas. If a well is equipped to produce only oil or gas from one zone or reservoir, the definition of a well (classified as an oil well or gas well) and the definition of a completion are identical. However, if a well is equipped to produce oil and/or gas separately from more than one reservoir, a well is not synonymous with a completion. See Well.
Conference of the Parties (COP): The collection of nations that have ratified the Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC). The primary role of the COP is to keep implementation of the FCCC under review and make the decisions necessary for its effective implementation. See Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC).
Consumption: See Energy Consumption.
Conventional Gasoline: Finished motor gasoline not included in the oxygenated or reformulated gasoline categories. Note: This category excludes reformulated gasoline blendstock for oxygenate blending (RBOB) as well as other blendstock. See Motor Gasoline (Finished).
Conventional Mill (Uranium): A facility engineered and built principally for processing of uraniferous ore materials mined from the earth and the recovery, by chemical treatment in the mill’s circuits, of uranium and/or other valued coproduct components from the processed one.
Conventional Thermal Electricity Generation: Electricity generated by an electric power plant using coal, petroleum, or gas as its source of energy.
Conversion Factor: A number that translates units of one measurement system into corresponding values of another measurement system. (Thermal conversion factors or heat contents or heat values can be used to translate physical units of measure for various fuels into Btu equivalents.) Note: For specific conversion factors, see EIA International Conversion Factors and Heat Contents and EIA Unit Conversions.
COP: See Conference of the Parties (COP).
Cost, Insurance and Freight: See C.I.F. (Cost, Insurance and Freight).
Cracking: The refining process of breaking down the larger, heavier, and more complex hydrocarbon molecules into simpler and lighter molecules. See Catalytic Cracking and Thermal Cracking.
Crude Oil: A mixture of hydrocarbons that exists in liquid phase in natural underground reservoirs and remains liquid at atmospheric pressure after passing through surface separating facilities. Depending upon the characteristics of the crude stream, it may also include:
Crude Oil (including Lease Condensate): See Crude Oil.
Crude Oil Landed Cost: The dollar-per-barrel price of crude oil at the port of discharge. Included are the charges associated with the purchase, transporting, and insuring of a cargo from the purchase point to the port of discharge. Not included are charges incurred at the discharge port (e.g., import tariffs or fees, wharfage charges, and demurrage charges).
Crude Oil Less Lease Condensate: A mixture of hydrocarbons that exists in liquid phase in natural underground reservoirs and remains liquid at atmospheric pressure after passing through surface separating facilities. Such hydrocarbons as lease condensate and natural gasoline recovered as liquids from natural gas wells in lease or field separation facilities and later mixed into the crude stream are excluded. Depending upon the characteristics of the crude stream, crude oil may also include:
Crude Oil Production: The volume of crude oil produced from oil reservoirs during given periods of time. The amount of such production for a given period is measured as volumes delivered from lease storage tanks (i.e., the point of custody transfer) to pipelines, trucks, or other media for transport to refineries or terminals with, adjustments for (1) net differences between opening and closing lease inventories, and (2) basic sediment and water.
Cubic Foot (cf), Natural Gas: The amount of natural gas contained at standard temperature and pressure (60 degrees Fahrenheit and 14.73 pounds standard per square inch) in a cube whose edges are one foot long.
Cull Wood: Wood logs, chips, or wood products that are burned.
Current (Electric): A flow of electrons in an electrical conductor. The strength or rate of movement of the electricity is measured in amperes.
Cycling: The practice of producing natural gas for the extraction of natural gas liquids, returning the dry residue to the producing reservoir to maintain reservoir pressure and increase the ultimate recovery of natural gas liquids.
Cycling Plants: See Natural Gas Processing Plants.
Czechoslovakia: Country that split into two separate countries—the Czech Republic and Slovakia—on January 1, 1993.
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Deforestation: The net removal of trees from forested land. .
Delayed Coking: A process by which heavier crude oil fractions can be thermally decomposed under conditions of elevated temperature and pressure to produce a mixture of lighter oils and petroleum coke. .
Demand: See Energy Demand.
Demand (Electric): See Electricity Demand.
Demonstrated Reserves: See Energy Reserves.
Development Well: Development Well: A well drilled within the proved area of an oil or gas reservoir to the depth of a stratigraphic horizon known to be productive.
Direct Current: An electric current that flows in a constant direction. The magnitude of the current does not vary or has a slight variation.
Distillate Fuel Oil: A general classification for one of the petroleum fractions produced in conventional distillation operations. It includes diesel fuels and fuel oils. Products known as No. 1, No. 2, and No. 4 diesel fuel are used in on-highway diesel engines, such as those in trucks and automobiles, as well as off-highway engines, such as those in railroad locomotives and agricultural machinery. Products known as No. 1, No. 2, and No. 4 fuel oils are used primarily for space heating and electric power generation.
Distillation Unit (Atmospheric): The primary distillation unit that processes crude oil (including mixtures of other hydrocarbons) at approximately atmospheric conditions. It includes a pipe still for vaporizing the crude oil and a fractionation tower for separating the vaporized hydrocarbon components in the crude oil into fractions with different boiling ranges. This is done by continuously vaporizing and condensing the components to separate higher boiling point material. The selected boiling ranges are set by the processing scheme, the properties of the crude oil,, and the product specifications.
Distribution: The delivery of energy to retail customers.
Distribution System: Distribution System: The portion of an electric system that is dedicated to delivering electric energy to an end user.
Domestic Inland Consumption (Petroleum): The sum of all refined petroleum products supplied for domestic use (excludes international bunker fuels). Consumption is calculated product-by-product by adding production, imports, and crude oil burned directly, and then subtracting exports and changes in primary stocks. Note: A net withdrawal from primary stocks increases consumption and a net addition to primary stocks decreases consumption.
Dry (Coal) Basis: Coal quality data calculated to a theoretical basis in which no moisture is associated with the sample. This basis is determined by measuring the weight loss of a sample when its inherent moisture is driven off under controlled conditions of low temperature air-drying followed by heating to just above the boiling point of water (104 to 110 degrees centigrade).
Dry Gas: See Dry Natural Gas.
Dry Hole: An exploratory or development well found to be incapable of producing either oil or gas in sufficient quantities to justify completion as an oil or gas well.
Dry Natural Gas: Natural gas which remains after:
Dry Natural Gas Production: The process of producing consumer-grade natural gas. Natural gas withdrawn from reservoirs is reduced by volumes used at the production (lease) site and by processing losses. Volumes used at the production site include (1) the volume returned to reservoirs in cycling, repressuring of oil reservoirs, and conservation operations; and (2) gas vented and flared. Processing losses include (1) nonhydrocarbon gases (e.g., water vapor, carbon dioxide, helium, hydrogen sulfide, and nitrogen) removed from the gas stream; and (2) gas converted to liquid form, such as lease condensate and plant liquids. Volumes of dry gas withdrawn from gas storage reservoirs are not considered part of production. Dry natural gas production equals marketed production less extraction loss.
Dry Production: Dry Production: See Dry Natural Gas Production.
Dual Fired Unit: Dual Fired Unit: A generating unit that can produce electricity using two or more input fuels. In some of these units, only the primary fuel can be used continuously; the alternate fuel(s) can be used only as a start-up fuel or in emergencies.
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Electrical Generating Capacity: See Generator Capacity.
Electricity: A form of energy characterized by the presence and motion of elementary charged particles generated by friction, induction, or chemical change.
Electricity Capacity: The maximum load of electric power, commonly expressed in megawatts (MW), by which generators, turbines, transformers, transmission circuits, stations, or systems are rated.
Electricity Demand: The rate at which energy is delivered to loads and scheduling points by generation, transmission, and distribution facilities.
Electricity Generation: The process of producing electric energy or the amount of electric energy produced by transforming other forms of energy, commonly expressed in kilowatthours (kWh) or megawatthours (MWh).
Electricity Generation, Gross: See Gross Generation.
Electricity Generation, Net: See Net Generation.
Electricity Installed Capacity: See Generator Nameplate Capacity (Installed).
Electric Plant (Physical): See Electric Power Plant.
Electric Power: The rate at which electric energy is transferred. Electric power is measured by capacity and is commonly expressed in megawatts (MW).
Electric Power Plant: A facility containing prime movers, electric generators, and auxiliary equipment for converting mechanical, chemical, and/or fission energy into electric energy.
Electric System: Physically connected generation, transmission, and distribution facilities operated as an integrated unit under one central management, or operating supervision.
Electric Utility: A corporation, person, agency, authority, or other legal entity or instrumentality that owns and/or operates facilities for the generation, transmission, distribution, or sale of electric energy for use primarily by the public. Utilities provide electricity within a designated franchised service area and file forms listed in the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 18, Part 141. Note: Facilities that qualify as cogenerators or small power producers under the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA) are not considered electric utilities. See Nonutility Power Producer.
Emissions: Anthropogenic releases of gases to the atmosphere. In the context of global climate change, they consist of radiatively important greenhouse gases (e.g., the release of carbon dioxide during fuel combustion). See Greenhouse Gases.
Emissions Coefficient: A unique value for scaling emissions to activity data in terms of a standard rate of emissions per unit of activity (e.g., pounds of carbon dioxide emitted per British thermal unit (Btu) of fossil fuel consumed.)
Energy: The capacity for doing work as measured by the capability of doing work (potential energy) or the conversion of this capability to motion (kinetic energy). Energy has several forms, some of which are easily convertible and can be changed to another form useful for work. Most of the world’s convertible energy comes from fossil fuels that are burned to produce heat that is then used as a transfer medium to mechanical or other means in order to accomplish tasks. Electrical energy is usually measured in kilowatthours, while heat energy is usually measured in British thermal units. See Energy Sources.
Energy Consumption: The use of energy as a source of heat or power or as a raw material input to a manufacturing process.
Energy Demand: The requirement for energy as an input to provide products and/or services.
Energy Loss (Power): See Power Loss.
Energy Production: See production terms associated with specific energy sources.
Energy Reserves: Estimated quantities of energy sources that are demonstrated to exist with reasonable certainty on the basis of geologic and engineering data (proved reserves) or that can reasonably be expected to exist on the basis of geologic evidence that supports projections from proved reserves (probable/indicated reserves). Knowledge of the location, quantity, and grade of probable/indicated reserves is generally incomplete or much less certain than it it is for proved energy reserves. Note: This term is equivalent to "Demonstrated Reserves" as defined in the resource/reserve classification contained in the U.S. Geological Survey Circular 831, 1980. Demonstrated reserves include measured and indicated reserves but exclude inferred reserves. See Probable Energy Reserves.
Energy Sources: Any substance or natural phenomenon that can be consumed or transformed to supply heat or power. Examples include petroleum, coal, natural gas, nuclear, biomass (or more broadly wood and waste), electricity, wind, sunlight, geothermal, water movement, and hydrogen in fuel cells.
Energy Supply: Energy made available for future disposition. Supply can be considered and measured from the point of view of the energy provider or the receiver. See Energy Sources.
Enriched Uranium: Uranium in which the 235U isotope concentration has been increased to greater than the 0.711 percent 235U (by weight) present in natural uranium. See Uranium.
Enrichment Services: See Separative Work Units (SWU).
ETBE See Ethyl Tertiary Butyl Ether (ETBE).
Ethane: A normally gaseous straight-chain hydrocarbon, (C2H6). It is a colorless, paraffinic gas that boils at a temperature of -127.48 degrees Fahrenheit. It is extracted from natural gas and refinery gas streams.
Ether: A generic term applied to a group of organic chemical compounds composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, characterized by an oxygen atom attached to two carbon atoms (e.g., methyl tertiary butyl ether).
Ethylene: An olefinic hydrocarbon recovered from refinery processes or petrochemical processes. Ethylene is used as a petrochemical feedstock for numerous chemical applications and the production of consumer goods.
Ethyl Tertiary Butyl Ether (ETBE): A colorless, flammable, oxygenated hydrocarbon blend stock. See Oxygenates.
EU: See European Union (EU).
European Union (EU): Current members are: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal,, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and United Kingdom.
Exploratory Well: A hole drilled: a) to find and produce oil or gas in an area previously considered unproductive; b) to find a new reservoir in a field previously found to be producing oil or gas from another reservoir; or c) to extend the limit of a known oil or gas reservoir. .
Exports (U.S.): Shipments of goods from within the 50 States and the District of Columbia to U.S. possessions and territories or to foreign countries See United States (U.S.).
Extraction Loss: The reduction in volume of natural gas due to the removal of natural gas liquid constituents, such as ethane, propane, and butane, at natural gas processing plants.
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Fabricated Fuel: Fuel assemblies composed of an array of fuel rods loaded with pellets of enriched uranium dioxide. See Uranium.
Fahrenheit: A temperature scale on which the boiling point of water is at 212 degrees above zero on the scale and the freezing point is at 32 degrees above zero at standard atmospheric pressure.
F.A.S. Value (Free Alongside Ship Value): The value of a commodity at the port of exportation, generally including the purchase price, plus all charges incurred in placing the commodity alongside the carrier at the port of exportation in the country of exportation.
FCCC: See Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC) and Climate Change.
Field Separation Facility: A surface installation designed to recover lease condensate from a produced natural gas stream usually originating from more than one lease and managed by the operator of one or more these leases.
Fixed Carbon: The nonvolatile matter in coal minus the ash. Fixed carbon is the solid residue other than ash obtained by prescribed methods of destructive distillation of a coal. Fixed carbon is the part of the total carbon that remains when coal is heated in a closed vessel until all volatile matter is driven off.
Flared: Gas disposed of by burning in flares usually at the production sites or at gas processing plants.
Flared Natural Gas: See Flared.
Flexicoking: A thermal cracking process that converts heavy hydrocarbons such as crude oil, tar sands bitumen, and distillation residues into light hydrocarbons. Feedstocks can be any hydrocarbons, including those containing high concentrations of sulfur and metals.
Fluid Coking: A thermal cracking process utilizing the fluidized-solids technique to remove carbon (coke) for continuous conversion of heavy, low-grade, oils into lighter products.
F.O.B. (Free On Board): A sales transaction in which the seller makes the product available for pick up at a specified port or terminal at a specified price and the buyer pays for the subsequent transportation and insurance.
Former Czechoslovakia: See Czechoslovakia.
Former Yugoslavia: See Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
Fossil Fuel: An energy source formed in the Earth’s crust from decayed organic material. The common fossil fuels are petroleum, coal, and natural gas.
Fossil Fueled Steam-Electric Power Plant: An electricity generation plant in which the prime mover is a turbine rotated by high-pressure steam produced in a boiler by heat from burning fossil fuels.
Fossil-Fuel Electric Generation: Electric generation in which the prime mover is a turbine rotated by high-pressure steam produced in a boiler by heat from burning fossil fuels.
Fractionation: The process by which saturated hydrocarbons are removed from natural gas and separated into distinct products, or “fractions,” such as propane, butane, and ethane.
Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC): An agreement opened for signature at the "Earth Summit" in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on June 4, 1992, which has the goal of stabilizing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent significant anthropogenically forced climate change. See Climate Change.
Free On Board: See F.O.B. (Free On Board).
Fuel: Any material substance that can be consumed to supply heat or power. Included are petroleum, coal, and natural gas (the fossil fuels) and other consumable materials, such as uranium, biomass, and hydrogen. See Energy Sources.
Fuel Cells: One or more cells capable of generating an electrical current by converting the chemical energy of a fuel (e.g., hydrogen) directly into electrical energy. Fuel cells differ from conventional electrical cells in that the active materials such as fuel and oxygen are not contained within the cell but are supplied from outside.
Fuel Ethanol: An anhydrous, denatured aliphatic alcohol (C2H5OH) intended for motor gasoline blending. See Oxygenates.
Fuelwood: See Wood Energy.
Futures Market: A trade center for quoting prices on contracts for the delivery of a specified quantity of a commodity at a specified time and place in the future.
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Gas Condensate Well: A gas well that produces from a gas reservoir containing considerable quantities of liquid hydrocarbons in the pentane and heavier range generally described as “condensate.” See Lease Condensate.
Gas (Electric): A fuel burned under boilers and by internal combustion engines for electric generation. These include natural gas, manufactured gas, and waste gas.
Gas Hydrates: See Natural Gas Hydrates.
Gasohol: A blend of finished motor gasoline containing alcohol (generally ethanol but sometimes methanol) at a concentration between 5.7 percent and 10 percent by volume. Also see Oxygenates.
Gas Oil: European and Asian designation for No. 2 heating oil and No. 2 diesel fuel.
Gasoline: See Motor Gasoline (Finished).
Gasoline Blending: See Motor Gasoline Blending.
Gasoline Grades: The classification of gasoline by octane ratings. Each type of gasoline (conventional, oxygenated, and reformulated) is classified by three grades - Regular, Midgrade, and Premium. Note: Gasoline sales are reported by grade in accordance with their classification at the time of sale. In general, automotive octane requirements are lower at high altitudes. Therefore, in some areas of the United States, such as the Rocky Mountain States, the octane ratings for the gasoline grades may be 2 or more octane points lower.
Gas to Liquids (GTLs): A process that combines the carbon and hydrogen elements in natural gas molecules to make synthetic liquid petroleum products, such as diesel fuel.
Gas-Turbine Electric Power Plant: A plant in which the prime mover is a gas turbine. A gas turbine typically consists of an axial-flow air compressor and one or more combustion chambers where liquid or gaseous fuel is burned. The hot gases expand to drive the generator and then are used to run the compressor.
Gas Well: A well completed for the production of natural gas from one or more gas zones or reservoirs. (Wells producing both crude oil and natural gas are classified as oil wells.)
GDP: See Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Generating Facility: An existing or planned location or site at which electricity is or will be produced.
Generating Unit: Any combination of physically connected generator(s), reactor(s), boiler(s), combustion turbine(s), or other prime mover(s) operated together to produce electric power.
Generation (Electricity): See Electricity Generation.
Generator: A machine that converts mechanical energy into electrical energy.
Generator Capacity: The maximum output, commonly expressed in megawatts (MW), that generating equipment can supply to system load, adjusted for ambient conditions.
Generator Nameplate Capacity (Installed): The maximum rated output of a generator, prime mover, or other electric power production equipment under specific conditions designated by the manufacturer. Installed generator nameplate capacity is commonly expressed in megawatts (MW) and is usually indicated on a nameplate physically attached to the generator.
Geothermal: Pertaining to heat within the Earth.
Geothermal Electric Power Generation: Electricity derived from heat found under the Earth's surface. Within the Earth, there are vast amounts of molten rock and metal, covered by succeeding layers of cooler material, up to the crust of the Earth's surface. Underground rivers generate steam that is liberated in the form of geysers through fissures in the Earth's surface.
Geothermal Energy: Hot water or steam extracted from geothermal reservoirs in the Earth’s crust. Water or stream extracted from geothermal reservoirs can be used for geothermal heat pumps, water heating, or electricity generation.
Geothermal Plant: A plant in which the prime mover is a steam turbine. The turbine is driven either by steam produced from hot water or by natural steam that derives its energy from heat found in rocks or fluids at various depths beneath the surface of the Earth. The fluids are extracted by drilling and /or pumping.
Giga: One billion (109).
Gigawatt (GW): One billion (109) watts. See Watt.
Gigawatthour (GWh): One billion (109) watthours. See Watthour. See also EIA International Conversion Factors and Heat Contents, EIA Unit Conversions, Heat Content of a Quantity of Fuel, Gross, and Heat Content of a Quantity of Fuel, Net.
Gilsonite: Trademark name for uintaite (or uintahite), a black, brilliantly lustrous natural variety of asphalt, found in parts of Utah and western Colorado.
Global Climate Change: See Climate Change.
Global Warming: An increase in the near surface temperature of the Earth. Global warming has occurred in the distant past as the result of natural influences, but the term is today most often used to refer to the warming some scientists predict will occur as a result of increased anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases. See Climate Change.
Global Warming Potential (GWP): An index used to compare the relative radiative forcing of different gases without directly calculating the changes in atmospheric concentrations. GWPs are calculated as the ration of the radiative forcing that would result from the emission of one kilogram of a greenhouse gas to that from the emission of one kilogram of carbon dioxide over a fixed period of time, such as 100 years. See Greenhouse Gases.
Greenhouse Effect: The result of water vapor, carbon dioxide, and other atmospheric gases trapping radiant (infrared) energy, thereby keeping the Earth’s surface warmer than it would otherwise be. Greenhouse gases within the lower levels of the atmosphere trap this radiation, which would otherwise escape into space, and subsequent re-radiation of some of this energy back to the Earth maintains higher surface temperatures than would occur if the gases were absent. See Greenhouse Gases.
Greenhouse Gases: Those gases, such as water vapor, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, methane, hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), and sulfur hexafluoride, that are transparent to solar (short-wave) radiation but opaque to long-wave (infrared) radiation, thus preventing long-wave radiant energy from leaving Earth’s atmosphere. The net effect is a trapping of absorbed radiation and a tendency to warm the planet's surface. See Global Warming Potential.
Grid: The layout of an electrical distribution system.
Gross Domestic Product (GDP): The total value of goods and services produced by labor and property located in a country. As long as the labor and property are located in the country, the supplier (that is, the workers and for property, the owners) may be either residents of that country or residents of foreign countries.
Gross Electricity Generation: See Gross Generation.
Gross Generation: The total amount of electric energy produced by generating units and measured at the generating terminal in kilowatthours (kWh) or megawatthours (MWh).
Gross Heat Content of a Quantity of Fuel: See Heat Content of a Quantity of Fuel, Gross.
Gross Input to Atmospheric Crude Oil Distillation Units: Total input to atmospheric crude oil distillation units. Includes all crude oil, lease condensate, natural gas plant liquids, unfinished oils, liquefied refinery gases, slop oils, and other liquid hydrocarbons produced from tar sands, Gilsonite, and oil shale. See Distillation Unit (Atmospheric).
Gross Production, Natural Gas: See Gross Withdrawals, Natural Gas.
Gross Withdrawals, Natural Gas: Full well-stream volume of produced natural gas, including all natural gas plant liquids and all nonhydrocarbon gases, but excluding lease condensate.
GWh: See Gigawatthour.
GWP: See Global Warming Potential.
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Heap Leach Solutions: The separation, or dissolving-out, from mined rock of the soluble uranium constituents by the natural action of percolating a prepared chemical solution through mounded (heaped) rock material. The mounded material usually contains low grade mineralized material and/or waste rock produced from openpit or underground mines The solutions are collected after percolation is completed and processed to recover the valued component.
Heat Content of a Quantity of Fuel, Gross: The total amount of heat released when a fuel is burned. Coal, crude oil, and natural gas all include chemical compounds of carbon and hydrogen. When those fuels are burned, the carbon and hydrogen combine with oxygen in the air to produce carbon dioxide and water. Some of the energy released in burning goes into transforming the water into steam and is usually lost. The amount of heat spent in transforming the water into steam is counted as part of gross heat content but is not counted as part of net heat content. Gross heat content is also referred to as the higher heating value. Btu conversion factors typically used by the Energy Information Administration represent gross heat content.
Heat Content of a Quantity of Fuel, Net: The amount of usable heat energy released when a fuel is burned under conditions similar to those in which it is normally used. Net heat content is also referred to as the lower heating value. Btu conversion factors typically used by the Energy Information Administration represent gross heat content.
Heating Value: See Heat Content of a Quantity of Fuel, Gross and Heat Content of a Quantity of Fuel, Net.
Heavy Gas Oils: Petroleum distillates with an approximate boiling range from 651 degrees Fahrenheit to 1000 degrees Fahrenheit.
HFCs: See Hydrofluorocarbons.
High Sulfur No. 2 Diesel Fuel: No. 2 diesel fuel that has a sulfur level above 0.05 percent by weight.
High-Temperature Collector: See Solar Thermal Collector, High-Temperature.
Hydrocarbon: An organic chemical compound of hydrogen and carbon in either gaseous, liquid, or solid phase. The molecular structure of hydrocarbon compounds varies from the simplest (e.g., methane, a constituent of natural gas) to the very heavy and very complex.
Hydroelectric Power: The production of electricity from the kinetic energy of falling water.
Hydroelectric Power Generation: Electricity generated by an electric power plant whose turbines are driven by falling water. It includes electric utility and industrial generation of hydroelectricity, unless otherwise specified. Generation is reported on a net basis, i. e., on the amount of electric energy generated after the electric energy consumed by station auxiliaries and the losses in the transformers that are considered integral parts of the station are deducted.
Hydroelectric Power Plant: A plant in which the turbine generators are driven by falling water.
Hydroelectric Pumped Storage: Hydroelectricity that is generated during peak loads by using water previously pumped into an elevated storage reservoir during off-peak periods when excess generating capacity is available to do so. When additional generating capacity is needed, the water can be released from the reservoir through a conduit to turbine generators located in a power plant at a lower level.
Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs): A group of man-made chemicals composed of one or two carbon atoms and varying numbers of hydrogen and fluorine atoms. Most HFCs have 100-year Global Warming Potentials in thousands of years. See Global Warming Potential (GWP) and Greenhouse Gases.
Hydrogen: A colorless, odorless, highly flammable gaseous element. It is the lightest of all gases and the most abundant element in the universe, occurring chiefly in combination with oxygen in water and also in acids, bases, alcohols, petroleum, and other hydrocarbons.
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IEA: See International Energy Agency (IEA).
Imports (U.S.): Receipts of goods into the 50 States and the District of Columbia from U.S. possessions and territories or from foreign countries. See United States (U.S.).
Improved Recovery: Extraction of crude oil or natural gas by any method other than those that rely primarily on natural reservoir pressure, gas lift, or a system of pumps.
Independent Power Producer: A corporation, person, agency, authority, or other legal entity or instrumentality which is a wholesale electricity producer that operates within the franchised service territory of a host electric utility and is usually authorized to sell at market-based rates. Unlike traditional electric utilities, independent power producers do not possess transmission facilities, unless authorized by law, nor do they sell electricity in the retail market. Independent power producers are considered to be nonutility power producers. See Electric Utility and Nonutility Power Producer.
Indicated Recoverable Reserves, Coal: See Probable (Indicated) Reserves, Coal.
Indicated Reserves: See Probable Energy Reserves.
In Situ Leach Mining (ISL): The recovery, by chemical leaching, of the valuable components of an orebody without physical extraction of the ore from the ground. Also referred to as “solution mining.”
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC): A panel established jointly in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organization and the United Nations Environment Program to assess the scientific information relating to climate change and to formulate realistic response strategies.
Internal Combustion Electric Power Plant: A plant in which the prime mover is an internal combustion engine. An internal combustion engine has one or more cylinders in which the process of combustion takes place, converting energy released from the rapid burning of a fuel-air mixture into mechanical energy. Diesel or gas-fired engines are the principal types used in electric plants. The plant is usually operated during periods of high demand for electricity.
International Bunker Fuels: See Bunker Fuels.
International Energy Agency (IEA): Current members are: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, South Korea (usually listed here as Korea, South), Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, and United States. Note: Data for Guam, the former Hawaiian Trade Zone, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands (usually listed here as Virgin Islands, U.S.) are included in the IEA-related data reported here.
Isopentane: A saturated branched-chain hydrocarbon (C5H12) obtained by fractionation of natural gasoline or isomerization of normal pentane.
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Jet Fuel: A refined petroleum product used in jet aircraft engines. It includes kerosene-type jet fuel and naphtha-type jet fuel.
Joule: The meter-kilogram-second unit of work or energy, equal to the work done by a force of one newton when its point of application moves through a distance of one meter in the direction of the force; equivalent to 107 ergs and one watt-second. See Units.
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Kerosene: A light petroleum distillate that is used in space heaters, cook stoves, and water heaters and is suitable for use as a light source when burned in wick-fed lamps. Kerosene has a maximum distillation temperature of 400 degrees Fahrenheit at the 10-percent recovery point, a final boiling point of 572 degrees Fahrenheit, and a minimum flash point of 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Included are No. 1-K and No. 2-K, the two grades recognized by ASTM Specification D 3699 as well as all other grades of kerosene called range or stove oil, which have properties similar to those of No. 1 fuel oil. See Kerosene-Type Jet Fuel.
Kerosene-Type Jet Fuel: A kerosene-based product having a maximum distillation temperature of 400 degrees Fahrenheit at the 10-percent recovery point and a final maximum boiling point of 572 degrees Fahrenheit and meeting ASTM Specification D 1655 and Military Specifications MIL-T-5624P and MIL-T-8133D (Grades JP-5 and JP-8). It is used for commercial and military turbojet and turboprop aircraft engines.
Kilowatt (kW): One thousand (103) watts. See Watt.
Kilowatthour (kWh): One thousand (103) watthours. See Watthour. Also, see EIA International Conversion Factors and Heat Contents and EIA Unit Conversions.
kW: See Kilowatt (kW).
kWh: See Kilowatthour (kWh).
Kyoto Protocol: The result of negotiations at the third Conference of the Parties (COP-3) in Kyoto, Japan, in December 1997. The Kyoto Protocol sets binding greenhouse gas emissions targets for countries that sign and ratify the agreement. The gases covered under the Protocol include carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), and sulfur hexafluoride.
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Landed Cost (Crude Oil): See Crude Oil Landed Cost.
Lease Condensate: A mixture consisting primarily of pentanes and heavier hydrocarbons which is recovered as a liquid from natural gas in lease separation facilities. This category excludes natural gas plant liquids, such as butane and propane, which are recovered at downstream natural gas processing plants or facilities.
Lease Separation Facility (Lease Separator): A facility installed at the surface for the purpose of (a) separating gases from produced crude oil and water at the temperature and pressure conditions set by the separator and/or (b) separating gases from that portion of the produced natural gas stream that liquefies at the temperature and pressure conditions set by the separator.
Light Gas Oils: Light petroleum distillates heavier than naphtha, with an approximate boiling range of 401 degrees Fahrenheit to 650 degrees Fahrenheit.
Lignite: The lowest rank of coal, often referred to as brown coal, used almost exclusively as fuel for steam-electric power generation. It is brownish-black and has a high inherent moisture content, sometimes as high as 45 percent. The heat content of lignite ranges from 9 to 17 million Btu per ton on a moist, mineral-matter-free basis. The heat content of lignite consumed in the United States averages 13 million Btu per ton, on the as-received basis (i.e., containing both inherent moisture and mineral matter).
Lignite Briquets: See Coal Briquets.
Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG): Natural gas (primarily methane) that has been liquefied by reducing its temperature to minus 260 degrees Fahrenheit at atmospheric pressure. (The volume of the LNG is 1/600 that of the gas in its vapor state.)
Liquefied Petroleum Gases (LPG): A group of hydrogen-based gases derived from crude oil refining or natural gas fractionation. They include ethane, ethylene, propane, propylene, normal butane, butylene, isobutane, and isobutylene. For convenience of transportation, these gases are liquefied through pressurization.
Liquefied Refinery Gases (LRG): Liquefied petroleum gases fractionated from refinery or still gases. Through compression and/or refrigeration, they are retained in the liquid state. The reported categories are ethane/ethylene, propane/propylene, normal butane/butylene, and isobutane. Excludes still gas used for chemical or rubber manufacture, which is reported as petrochemical feedstock, and also excludes liquefied petroleum gases intended for blending into gasoline, which are reported as gasoline blending components.
Liquid Collector: A medium-temperature solar thermal collector, employed predominately in water heating, which uses pumped liquid as the heat transfer mechanism. See Solar Thermal Collector, Medium-Temperature.
LNG: See Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG).
Load (Electric): The amount of electric power delivered or required at any specific point or points on an electric system. The requirement originates at the energy-consuming equipment of the consumers.
Low Sulfur No. 2 Diesel Fuel: No. 2 diesel fuel that has a sulfur level no higher than 0.05 percent by weight. It is used primarily in motor vehicle diesel engines for on-highway use.
Low-Temperature Collector: See Solar Thermal Collector, Low-Temperature.
LPG: See Liquefied Petroleum Gases.
LRG: See Liquefied Refinery Gases.
Lubricants: Substances used to reduce friction between bearing surfaces, or incorporated into other materials used as processing aids in the manufacture of other products, or used as carriers of other materials. Petroleum lubricants may be produced either from distillates or residues. Lubricants include all grades of lubricating oils, from spindle oil to cylinder oil to those used in greases.
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Manufactured Gas: A gas obtained by destructive distillation of coal, or by thermal decomposition of oil, or by the reaction of steam passing through a bed of heated coal or coke. Examples are coal gases, coke oven gases, producer gas, blast furnace gas, blue (water) gas, and carbureted water gas.
Market-Based Pricing: Prices of electric power or other forms of energy determined in an open market system of supply and demand under which prices are set solely by agreements as to what buyers will pay and sellers will accept. Such prices could recover less or more than full costs, depending upon what the buyer and seller see as their relevant opportunities and risks.
Marketed Production, Natural Gas: Gross withdrawals of natural gas from reservoirs less gas used for reinjection into reservoirs for repressuring, gas that is vented and flared, and nonhydrocarbon gases removed in treating or processing operations.
Measured Recoverable Reserves, Coal: See Proved (Measured) Reserves, Coal and Proved Recoverable Reserves, Coal.
Measured Reserves: See Proved Energy Reserves.
Medium-Temperature Collector: See Solar Thermal Collector, Medium-Temperature.
Megawatt (MW): One million (106) watts of electricity. See Watt.
Megawatthour (MWh): One million (106) watthours. See Watthour.
Metallurgical Coal: Coking coal and pulverized coal consumed in making steel.
Metallurgical Coke: A strong, hard coke produced mainly for use in the iron and steel industry, where it serves as a chemical agent and source of energy. It is used mainly in blast furnaces to absorb the oxygen contained in iron oxides and provide energy for smelting. A portion of its potential energy is captured in the gases generated in the smelting process, then recycled in the form of blast furnace gas to provide additional energy inside or outside the smelting process. Metallurgical coke is also used to some extent as a domestic fuel and as a raw material for the manufacture of gas. See Coke (Coal).
Methane (CH4): A hydrocarbon gas that is the principal constituent of natural gas. Methane has a 100-year Global Warming Potential of 21. See Global Warming Potential (GWP) and Greenhouse Gases.
Methanol: A light alcohol that can be used for motor gasoline blending. See Oxygenates.
Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether (MTBE): A colorless, flammable, liquid oxygenated hydrocarbon containing 18.15 percent oxygen. See Oxygenates.
Metric Ton: A unit of weight equal to 2,204.6 pounds.
Midgrade Gasoline: Gasoline having an antiknock index, i.e., octane rating, greater than or equal to 88 and less than or equal to 90. Note: Octane requirements may vary by altitude. See Gasoline Grades.
Milling of Uranium: The processing of uranium from ore mined by conventional methods, such as underground or openpit, to separate the uranium from the undesired material in the ore. See Uranium.
Million Btu: One million (106) British thermal units (Btu). See British Thermal Unit (Btu).
Mineral-Matter-Free Basis: Mineral matter in coal is the parent material in coal from which ash is derived. It comes from minerals present in the original plant materials that formed the coal or from extraneous sources such as sediments and precipitates from mineralized water. Mineral matter in coal cannot be analytically determined and is commonly calculated using data on ash and ash-forming constituents. Coal analyses are calculated to the mineral-matter-free basis by adjusting formulas used in calculations in order to deduct the weight of mineral matter from the total coal.
Moist (Coal) Basis: “Moist” coal contains its natural inherent or bed moisture, but does not include water adhering to the surface. Coal analyses expressed on a moist basis are performed or adjusted so as to describe the data when the coal contains only that moisture which exists in the bed in its natural state of deposition, and when the coal has not lost any moisture due to drying.
Motor Gasoline Blending: Mechanical mixing of motor gasoline blending components, and oxygenates when required, to produce finished motor gasoline. Finished motor gasoline may be further mixed with other motor gasoline blending components or oxygenates, resulting in increased volumes of finished motor gasoline and/or changes in the formulation of finished motor gasoline (e.g., conventional motor gasoline mixed with MTBE to produce oxygenated motor gasoline).
Motor Gasoline Blending Components: Naphthas (e.g., straight-run gasoline, alkylate, reformate, benzene, toluene, xylene) used for blending or compounding into finished motor gasoline. These components include reformulated gasoline blendstock for oxygenate blending (RBOB) but exclude oxygenates (alcohols, ethers), butane, and pentanes plus. Note: Oxygenates are reported as individual components and are included in the total for other hydrocarbons, hydrogen, and oxygenates.
Motor Gasoline, Conventional: See Conventional Gasoline.
Motor Gasoline (Finished): A complex mixture of relatively volatile hydrocarbons with or without small quantities of additives, blended to form a fuel suitable for use in spark-ignition engines. Motor gasoline, as defined in ASTM Specification D 4814 or Federal Specification VV-G-1690C, is characterized as having a boiling range of 122 degrees to 158 degrees Fahrenheit at the 10-percent recovery point to 365 degrees to 374 degrees Fahrenheit at the 90-percent recovery point. “Motor Gasoline” includes conventional gasoline; all types of oxygenated gasoline, including gasohol; and reformulated gasoline, but excludes aviation gasoline. Note: Volumetric data on blending components, such as oxygenates, are not counted in data on finished motor gasoline until the blending components are blended into the gasoline.
Motor Gasoline Grades: See Gasoline Grades.
Motor Gasoline, Oxygenated: See Oxygenated Gasoline.
Motor Gasoline, Reformulated: See Reformulated Gasoline.
MTBE: See Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether.
Municipal Solid Waste: Residential solid waste and some nonhazardous commercial, institutional, and industrial wastes.
MW: See Megawatt (MW).
MWh: See Megawatthour (MWh).
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Naphtha: A generic term applied to a petroleum fraction with an approximate boiling range between 122 degrees and 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Naphthas: Refined or partly refined light distillates with an approximate boiling point range of 27 degrees to 221 degrees Centigrade. Blended further or mixed with other materials, they make high-grade motor gasoline or jet fuel. Also used as solvents, petrochemical feedstocks, or as raw materials for the production of town gas.
Naphtha-Type Jet Fuel: A fuel in the heavy naphtha boiling range having an average gravity of 52.8 degrees API, 20 to 90 percent distillation temperatures of 290 degrees to 470 degrees Fahrenheit, and meeting Military Specification MIL-T-5624L (Grade JP-4). It is used primarily for military turbojet and turboprop aircraft engines because it has a lower freeze point than other aviation fuels and meets engine requirements at high altitudes and speeds.
Natural Gas: A gaseous mixture of hydrocarbon compounds, the primary one being methane. Note: The Energy Information Administration measures wet natural gas and its two sources of production, associated-dissolved natural gas and nonassociated natural gas, and dry natural gas, which is produced from wet natural gas.
Natural Gas, “Dry”: See Dry Natural Gas.
Natural Gas, Dry Production: See Dry Natural Gas.
Natural Gas Dry Production: Gross withdrawals of natural gas from reservoirs less gas used for reinjection into reservoirs for repressuring, gas that is flared or vented, gas lost in transmission, and shrinkage. Derived by subtracting shrinkage or extraction loss from marketed production. It represents the amount of natural gas that can be marketed and consumed as a gas.
Natural Gas Gross Production: See Gross Withdrawals, Natural Gas.
Natural Gas Gross Withdrawals: See Gross Withdrawals, Natural Gas.
Natural Gas Hydrates: Solid, crystalline, wax-like substances composed of water, methane, and usually a small amount of other gases, with the gases being trapped in the interstices of a water-ice lattice. They form beneath permafrost and on the ocean floor under conditions of moderately high pressure and at temperatures near the freezing point of water.
Natural Gas Liquids (NGL): A general term for all liquid products separated from natural gas in gas processing or cycling plants. They include natural gas plant liquids and lease condensate.
Natural Gas Marketed Production: See Marketed Production, Natural Gas.
Natural Gasoline: A term used in the gas processing industry to refer to a mixture of liquid hydrocarbons (mostly pentanes and heavier hydrocarbons) extracted from natural gas. It includes isopentane.
Natural Gas, Pipeline Quality: See Pipeline Quality Natural Gas.
Natural Gas Plant Liquids (NGPL): Those hydrocarbons in natural gas that are separated as liquids at downstream natural gas processing plants or at fractionating and cycling plants. Data on lease condensate are excluded. Products obtained include liquefied petroleum gases and pentanes plus.
Natural Gas Processing Plants: Facilities designed to recover natural gas liquids from a stream of natural gas that may or may not have passed through lease separators and/or field separation facilities. These facilities also control the quality of natural gas to be marketed. Cycling plants are classified as natural gas processing plants.